tent 

txmo 


Duke   University  Libraries 

Friendly  conver 
Conf  Pam  12mo  #584 

0^047613  + 


No.  53. 

FRIENDLY  CONVERSATION. 


»  My  dear  Friend — Will  you  permit  one,  with  the  best 
intentions,  to  converse  with  you  a  few  moments  on  a  very 
important  subject  ?  As  a  friend,  I  feel  interested  in  your 
welfare;  allow  mc,  then,  to  inquire,  What  are  you? 
What  ought  you  to  be  ?     What  must  you  be? 

I.    What  are  you,  my  friend  ? 

The  question  is  one  which  each  of  us  should  be  prepared 
to  answer,  and  it  surely  deserves  your  serious  consideration. 

You  are  a  rational  aiM  <m  accountable  being.  The  past 
you  can  remember.  You  can  reflect  and  reason  on  what 
is  present — on  any  piece  of  work  you  are  engaged  in,  or  on 
the  friendly  tract  in  your  hand.  And  the  future  you  can 
anticipate,  or  look  forward  to.  Hence  those  alarming 
thoughts  which  you  have  felt  when  a  friend  has  been 
snatched  away  by  the  iron  hand  of  death,  or  when  pale 
sickness  has  threatened  to  bring  you  to  "the  king  of 
terrors''/  Of  all  the  creatures  on  earth,  man  alone  is  capable 
of  doing  this.  This  faculty  you  and  I  have  received  from 
God  our  Maker;  and  hence, 

We  are  accountable  to  him  for  every  thought  we  think, 
for  every' word  we  speak,  and  for  every  thing  we  do.  Mat, 
]  2  :  36.  God  has  not  left  us  to  do  as  we  think  proper  ;  he 
has. given  us  a  law,  which  is  exceedingly  broad,  extending 
to  thought,  word,  and  action.  This  law  is  contained  in 
the  Bible,  and  is  holy,  jusr,  and  good.  Did  you  evar  think 
of  this,  my  friend?  ' 


*  FRIENDLY  CONVERSATION. 

The  law  of  God  proves  that  you  are  a  sinful  creature. 
Its  righteous  demand  is,  that  you  love  God  at  all  times, 
with  all  your  m'nd  and  strength,  and  your  neighbor, 
whether  enemy  or  friend,  as  yourself.  Now,  I  will  suppose 
you  are  not  as  bad  as  many  are,  who  are  openly  and  daring- 
ly "  fornicators,  idolaters,  adulterers,  thieves,  covetous, 
drunkards,  revilers,  or  extortioners/'  1  Cor.  6:  9,  10. 
These  are  in  a  most  alarming  state  indeed.  They  "  shall 
not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God."  Awful  declaration. 
Where,  then,  shall  they  take  up  their  everlasting  abode  ? 
There  is  only  one  other  kingdom  to  afford  them  shelter — 
the  kingdom  of  Satan:  and  who  can  dwell  with  "  everlast- 
ing burnings  ?  Who  can  take  np  his  abode  amidst  "de- 
vouring fire  ?  " 

I  would  rejoice,  my  friend,  if  you  rank  not  among  these 
open  enemies  of  God,  who  wear  frhe  mark  of  destruction  in 
their  forehead.  But,  alas,  if  you  have  broken  only  one 
commandment  of  the  law,  or  have  ceased  to  love  God  with 
all  your  heart  for  a  single  moment,  you  are  a  sinner  ;  he 
that  keepefch  the  whole  law,  and  offendeth  in  one  point,  is 
guilty  of  all.  James  2  :  10.  Now,  this  law,  which  you 
must  be  conscious  you  have  broken,  thunders  the  most 
dreadful  curses  on  every  soul  of  man  that  acts  as  you  have 
done.  Gal.  3;  10.  It  will  admit  of  no  compromise.  You 
must  present  a  perfect  obedience  to  it,  or  suffer  all  the 
weight  of  its  curse  for  ever.  How  many  thousands  are 
now  groaning  under  this  weight,  while  we  are  speaking  of 
it,  and  must  continue  to  do  so  through  an  awful  eternity. 
God  declares  your  situation  to  be  dreadful,  Rom.  3 ;  10, 
etc.     And  yet  amidst  all  this, 

You  are  a  dying  creature.  As  many  years  as  you  have 
lived,  so  many  Death  has  been  on  his  way  towards  you  to 
deprive  you  of  life.  Surely,  then,  he  can  be  at  no  -great 
distance  now.     Have  not  his  arrows,  flying  around?  eutting 


FRIENDLY  CONVERSATION.  3 

off  your  friends  and  acquaintances,  warned  you  of  Ins  ap- 
proach? Perhaps  now,  while  yon  read,  he  is  setting  you 
as  his  mark,  and  drawing  to  the  head  the  arrow  which  will 
break  the  thread  of  life,  and  plunge  yen  into  eternity. 
And  are  you  prepared  to  stand  before  the  judgment-seat 
of  Christ,  to  give  an  account  of  the  deeds  done  in  the  body  ? 
Remember. 

You  are  an  immortnl  creature.  Your  soul  will  live  for 
ever,  either  in  heaven  or  in  hell.  And  "as  the  tree  falls, 
so  it  must  lie'"  for  ever.  If  you  die  unholy,  you  will  be 
unholy  still. 

II.  lYh<'t,  t/irn,  wiijlit  you  to  be? 

You  ought  ne  longer  to  remain  careless  and  unconcerned 
about  your  immortal  soul.  Why  should  you  spend  your 
precious  moments  in  contriving  how  you  may  gather  riches, 
or  gratify  the  desires  of  the  flesh,  when  every  moment  may 
be  your  last?  Did  God  create  you  only  that  you  might 
gather  money,  or  that  you  might  become  expert  in  trade, 
or  that  you  might  eat  and  drink,  and  sleep  and  wake,  like 
the  brutes  that  perish  ? 

You  should  diligently  read  the  Bible.  For,  however 
you  may  neglect  it  now,  you  must  be  judged  by  it  ere  long. 
You  should  constantly  attend  the  preaching  of  the  gospel, 
that  you  may  be  made  wise  unto  salvation.  And,  above 
all,  you  should  immediately  flee  to  Jesus  Christ,  in  earnest 
prayer  and  a  living  faith,  that  you  may  be  pardoned 
through  his  blood,  acquitted  before  God  for  his  righteous- 
ness' sake,  and  be  made  holy  by  the  power  of  the  Spirit. 

Now.  let  me  entreat  you — and  then  I  have  done — seri- 
ously to  inquire,  for  a  moment, 

III.  What  must  you  be  ? 

You  are  now  either  the  friend  or  the  enemy  of  God.    If 


*  FRIENDLY  CONVERSATION. 

3'ou  reverence  and  love  him,  ^because  be  is  so  holy  and  so 
just  that  be  cannot  but  abhor  every  kind  and  degree  of  sin, 
and -is  determined  to  punish  it  in  the  most  tremendous: 
manner,  while  he  pardons  and  saves  the  penitent  and  be-' 
lieving  sinner,  then  you  are  'the  friend  of  God,  interested 
in  the  merits  of  his  Son,  and  fitted,  by  his  Spirit,  for  his 
presence  in  heaven.  But  if  not,  you  are  his  enemy,  fit  only 
for  hell;  and,  dying  in  your  present  state,  you  will,  you 
must  be  banished  thither. 

If  unholy,  what  would  you  do  in  heaven  ?  What  sort  of 
company,  employment,  and  pleasure  would  you  find  there  ? 
It  would  be  a  hell  to  you,  in  your  present  state;  and  sick- 
ness and  death  will  make  no  change  in  you  for  the  better; 
they  have  no  power  at  all  to  do  this :  nothing  but  believing 
on  Jesus  Christ,  loving  and  obeying  him,  can  prepare  Us 
for,  or  entitle  us^  to,  a  place  in  his  kingdom.  Both  you 
and  I,  my  dear  friend,  must  for  ever  dwell  either  with 
angels  and  just  men  made  perfect  in  heaven,  or  with  devils 
and  damned  souls  in  hell.  There  is  no  possible  alterna- 
tive; and  how  soon  our  state  may  be  fixed,  who  can  tell? 

Here  I  am  obliged  to  stop.  But  ah,  how  can  I  take  my 
leave  ?  Perhaps  all  this  will  be  in  vain;  the  snares  of  the 
world,  the  deceitfulness  of  riches,  the  wiles  of  Satan,  and 
the  depravity  of  my  friend's  heart,  will  cause  him  to  throw 
aside  this  paper,  and  forget  these  infinitely  important 
truths;  he  may  live  and  die  a  stranger  to  salvation  through 
Jesus  Christ;  and  then — how  shall  I  utter  it — he  will  be 
for  ever  undone.  Nay,  this  friendly  endeavor  to  lead  him 
to  Christ  will  then  aggravate  his  final  ruin.  But,  should 
these  truths  sink  down,  into  your  heart,  my  dear  friend,  and 
cause  you  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come,  to  a  crucified 
Saviour,  my  present  pain  will  be  all  forgot,  while  I  rejoice 
with  angels  over  one  sinner  that  repenteth.     Farewell. 


Hollinger  Corp. 
pH  8.5 


N 


